Stein's Minneapolis Warehouse district 1957 (HO)

[steinjr]

I am working on a H0 scale around the room shelf switching layout in my little 6 1/2 x 11 1/2 foot storage room/workshop. The layout is inspired by urban scenes from Minneapolis ca 1957 - mainly the Omaha Road's trackage in the Warehouse District, but also a grain elevator scene and a scene loosely based on the municipal barge terminal in Minneapolis.

UPDATE 6: current plan as of fall of 2010:


Track schematic as of fall 2010:



UPDATE 5: current plan as of May 2010:


Updated track schematic:



UPDATE 4: current plan as of March 2010:


UPDATE 3: current track plan as of January 2010:


UPDATE 2: current track plan as of August 2009:


UPDATE 1 : - this is the current track plan as of 24 May 2009:


Here is my original layout plan:


If what you see is not an around the walls (ie a closed circle), then the forum is cutting off the image.
Full image here: http://home.online.no/~steinjr/trains/mo...ouse40.jpg



Some links to prototype photos of the area modelled from the Minnesota Historical Society Visual Resources Database

West Minneapolis yard, Omaha Road freight house+ 500-700 North first street: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=74550
Looking NW between Omaha Road yard (left) and NP depot (right) http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=78811
Security Warehouse 1: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=183217
Security Warehouse 1: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=77820
Hunt's Perfect Baking Powder Company: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=76752
Commutator Brass Foundry Company : http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=113026
Buckley's Lunch: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=75418
Creamette Company: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=75710
Municipal barge terminal (overview) ca 1950 - http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=81148
Municipal barge terminal (dockside/barges) ca 1950 -http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=102086
Calumet Elevator Company: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=75754
Star Elevator Company: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=80536
Washburn-Crosby Elevator 1: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=78106
Washburn-Crosby Elevator 2:http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=51657

The MHS visual resources database can be found at: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/



Engine roster for layout:

I've picked up a total of 7 diesel engines for my layout. Two will be home road (Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha - "Omaha Road") yard switchers, one parent company (Chicago & Northwestern) road switcher, and 4 neighbouring companies (MSTL, GN, NP, MILW) switchers or road switchers for dropping off or picking up interchange traffic. Of the seven, I expect a maximum of 3 or 4 to be on the layout at the same time - the two home road yard switchers and a couple of road switchers either delivering a cut of cars or picking up a cut of cars from my yard.

CMO GE 44-ton switcher #51
CMO GE 70-ton switcher #53
CNW FM H16-44 #1514
MSTL Alco S1 #142
MILW Alco RS3 #2475
GN Alco RS3 #228
NP EMD GP7 #569

Last digit of road number is DCC id.

I am using a wee bit of artistic license here - I know that the Omaha road didn't have GE 44-ton and GE 70-ton yard switchers in 1957. And that the M&StL did not have an S1.

So I am justifying those by rewriting history a little bit. I am pretending that GN GE 44-ton switcher #5201, sold as an industrial switcher to Iron and Steel Products Co in 1948 and renumbered #51, instead was sold to the Omaha road, was renumbered #51 and used at the West Minneapolis yard, along with a GE 70-tonner #53 aquired from somewhere else.

CMO had a mix of other switchers in the 50-series of road numbers when it was merged into C&NW in 1957 (#55 was an EMD SW-1, #56-57 were Alco S1s, #58, 59 and 60 were Baldwin VO-660s), so it is not such a stretch to assume that #51 and #53 could have been GE switchers.

Same with the MSTL Alco S1. MSTL didn't have any S1s - but they had an S2, aquired in 1941, and consequenly numbered 741 (engine no 7 bought in 1941). So I am postulating that they also got an S1 in 1942, and numbered it #142. C&NW had S1s, but I like the red and white post 1956 paint scheme of the MSTL better. Mmmm - I just saw somewhere that the M&StL renumbered their engines when they changed to the red and white scheme in 1956. I might want to come up with a new number ending in 2 for this one.

The rest (CNW, GN, NP, MILW) road numbers and engine types are reasonably historical for the company and type of engine, courtesy of http://www.thedieselshop.us and http://utahrails.net/cnw/cnw-index.php



A few images showing the current state of the layout:

Left end of warehouse district - leftmost track is mainline/exit from yard, low building straight ahead is freight house. industry/warehouse flats along wall on the right.


Looking right along waregouse district - mini yard of three tracks, more industries/warehouses.


Right side of room, North Star Elevator in the background, Hunt's baking powder co (red paper over foamcore building) at rear, Williams Hardware (two Pikestuff warehouses spliced end to end) at front:


Cassette/bridge in front of door - buildings in background has since been replaced by Hunt's baking Powder and Willliams Hardware


Testing out track alignments for the barge terminal scene using various placeholders:


I have since scratched out a coal barge that hopefully looks a little better than the placeholder tray in the picture above, even though it still needs sanding, detailing, painting and weathering


Anyways - that is the present state of my layout. It obviously needs a lot more work before it start look anywhere even remotely as good as some of the layouts I have seen in this forum.

But I'm having fun "working on the railroad" and hope to learn more and get more ideas following this forum


Smile,
Stein